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East Georgia State College (EGSC) is committed to protecting the privacy of all students, regardless of modality. As a condition of retaining its regional SACSCOC accreditation, EGSC is publishing its written procedure for protecting the privacy of students enrolled in distance and correspondence education courses and programs.

To protect the privacy of all students, including distance learning students, EGSC supports and complies with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974. EGSC makes the text of the FERPA act available to all constituents via the EGSC website and publications such as the Student Handbook and Academic Catalog.

At enrollment, all EGSC students are issued a unique student identification number. This student ID becomes the unique identifier for the student throughout his/her academic career at the College. The College also issues each student a unique EGSC email address.

Through the unique student identification number or the student email address, along with a password, the student is able to access systems such as Banner (student information system), CatMail (student email system), D2L (learning management system), etc.

In a similar fashion, college personnel are also issued unique login credentials for all EGSC systems. In the event of EGSC personnel no longer being employed by the school, the former employee's accounts are disabled to prevent access.

Online classes require students to take initiative and be active, independent learners. Since you do not see your professor every day, it is vital that you do the following with your online classes:

• • Log in at least 3-4 times a week (more is better).
  • Check your email for every course each time you log in. (Remember to check both your Brightspace by D2L email AND your xgcr.net email regularly.
  • Respond as required by your professor.
  • Either print out the professor’s calendar (if he/she uses one in D2L) or make one of your own using your syllabus to keep track of due dates and assignments. Your syllabus is the ultimate guide to the course, so you should study it thoroughly.

A good practice is to be involved from the first day of class and not procrastinating. Be sure you have a copy of the course syllabus close at hand and that you know how to contact your professor. Some professors prefer that you use your Catmail account, while others prefer you to use Brightspace by D2L email. Other tips:

• • Be an active participant in class by taking advantage of materials your professor may provide, like study guides, practice quizzes, discussion boards to ask questions, any extra credit opportunities, and meeting your online classmates.
  • If you don’t understand something, ask! Ask the professor and other students; many of them are experienced online learners.
  • Do not ever wait until the last minute to submit an assignment. Always build in extra time—you cannot always predict when power/internet will go out or something unexpected might delay you.
  • Practice staying well organized, self-motivated, and working ahead—it is extremely difficult to catch up even if you miss one online assignment.

Yes. While cell phones can be handy for a quick check in, you will need unlimited access to a computer to engage fully in the online course and complete the necessary assignments. This is especially true for written assignments, where text messaging ‘language’ is not appropriate. Writing is one of the main ways you will communicate in an online course. Please understand that unless you can regularly access a computer, a fully online course will not work for you.

Brightspace Pulse is a mobile app for students that can help you stay connected and on track with your Brightspace courses. It gives you one easy view of course calendars, readings, assignments, evaluations, grades, activity feed and news. The app will help you to make better decisions about how to handle your workload, when to submit assignments, and when to prepare for tests. Real-time alerts will let you know when classes are cancelled, rooms are moved, or new grades are available. The schedule view and weekly visualization enables you to quickly at a glance view what is due today, this week and upcoming across all your courses.

• • See all the important dates and deadlines for each one of your courses
  • Anticipate your busiest times with a quick glance
  • Receive the latest grades and news
  • Share updates via email, text messages, and social media
  • Enter your own events and deadlines
  • Edit course details and customize how much assignments and tests are worth
  • Seamlessly log in to Brightspace via your browser to complete tasks

(Source: http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.d2l.brightspace.student.android&hl=en_US&gl=US)

As part of our online teaching policy here at EGSC, all courses must have at least one proctored experience. This could be a test, a lab, a class workshop, or whatever the professor deems appropriate. Please discuss questions you may have about getting to campus or arranging a proctor early in the semester with your professor.

It takes up to 24 hours from the time you register for courses to appear once you log into Brightspace. Also remember that if you are taking eCore classes, you log into those classes at the eCore website.

Be sure you read the professor’s textbooks requirements in the syllabus. You can make arrangements to order your textbooks from the bookstore. You can also view the textbook requirements on the online schedule.